Spencer-East Brookfield schools to ask state for money

The Spencer East Brookfield Regional School Committee will ask the Legislature to allow it to borrow as much as $2 million, but it is not sure whether it wants the state to oversee school finances.

The committee initially voted Tuesday night to ask state Rep. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, to file legislation that would include oversight of the school's spending.

But it later revisited the question after Vincent P. Cloutier, who is running for the committee, called on the members who voted for the measure to resign and urged them to reconsider the vote.

Mr. Cloutier and former Selectman Kevin A. Hayes said the committee seems to lack transparency and often appears to have made decisions outside the constraints of its posted meetings.

Committee members said they could not wait any longer to make the decision about whether to ask for an oversight committee or to allow the commissioner of education to take a more administrative role in reviewing the district's finances.

As a compromise, they agreed to file the legislation asking for the right to borrow and said they will discuss with legislators whether the state thinks more oversight is needed.

School Superintendent Reza Namin has been away from the district since Dec. 11, when he requested a personal leave. About a month later, it was changed to paid administrative leave.

Committee members have heard projected budget shortfall numbers that could be as much as $2 million, though there has been little explanation of what happened to create the deficit.

Mark James from the teachers union told the committee Tuesday night the time for trying to place blame should be over.

“Batting the problem back and forth between the school and community is not going to solve the problem,” he said.

But Spencer selectmen this week expressed frustration over documents they didn't receive after making a request, and one selectman said he believes the school committee is hiding things.

School Committee Chairman Mary Gershman said the documents were delivered after a miscommunication, and committee members only learned of the problem when they read about it in the paper Tuesday.

While some have called on the committee to make cuts, members have thus far only discontinued the late bus at David Prouty High School. A request to bring back sports fees was nixed for the rest of this year.

Annually sports fees would bring in about $45,000, but for the remainder of this year would raise somewhere around $10,000, which many believed was a paltry amount compared to the deficit.

Mrs. Gershman said a subcommittee will meet with teachers today to discuss cuts, though no specifics were mentioned.

Ms. Gobi is expected to file the legislation this week and the committee will work to move it quickly through the Legislature so the district will have funding to finish out the year.